Corporate America&#39;s Favorite Campaign-Finance Loophole

The end-of-summer Republican and Democratic conventions are attracting millions in corporate donations, report Paul Demko and Anna Pratt for the Minnesota Independent, with companies like Cargill and Qwest taking advantage of “the biggest loophole in U.S. campaign finance law: the absence of any limits on what corporations and individuals can give in support of presidential conventions.”

They aren’t required to disclose dollar amounts to the public, either, and the Minnesota Independent’s attempts to find out—staffers contacted 53 organizations listed as donors on the RNC host committee’s website—were mostly ignored or declined. (Just eight companies agreed to disclose how much they’ve donated to the convention.)

The Republican get-together may be celebrated on broadcast television as an exercise in democracy but it will serve as a unique opportunity for special interests to buy access to influential people without the public much the wiser. Ditto for Denver. The delegates will vote on floors paved with money.

There were some administration official’s feels that the economic stimulus package is already working. Consumer spending hasn’t begun a huge upswing and return to glory, and there are less personal loans available from major banks, but the consumer spending levels have been holding steady. Granted, they’ve been holding low, but holding instead of falling, and stocks have been beginning to rebound. Perhaps these are good signs that the economic stimulus package is doing what it is supposed to. To read more check out this articles at http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/03/13/summers-points-signs-economic-stimulus-working/

Ken Adams

6/18/2008 5:32:12 PM

Intereting, but hardly surprising. As usual, the government is for sale to the highest bidder.